SPIRHR together with SPHMMC hosted the 2nd national symposium on RH with a theme: RH care provision in the era of COVID-19, challenges and mitigation strategies. Considering the time, the event was held in a hybrid fashion where most attended it virtually while very few were present in person.
The first day was marked with a great panel discussing the theme from the government, NGO, service, societies and academic perspective. It was great to have Drs Meseret Zelalem (MCH director, MOH), Nega Tesfaw (OBGYN working at MSI), Malede Birara (OBGYN, General secretary of ESOG), and Mahlet Yigeremu (OBGYN, from AAU-MF). The panel was nicely chaired by Dr. Mengistu Hailemariam (director, CIRHT Africa). It was followed by a lively discussion with questions coming from virtual and in-person audiences.
The rest of the first day and half of the next day was reserved for original articles dealing with services and programs. The best oral presenter was selected by a panel of experts and awarded at the end.
This year, as was done in the previous year, there were two great state of the art lectures by two invited speakers before the end of the symposium. Prof. Sarah Prager, who is division head for Family Plannnig at the University of Washington, discussed on abortion and family planning services during the COVID pandemic. Dr. Dorine Irakunda who is a clinical advisor at PSI enlightened the audience on “self-care intervention in sexual and reproductive health in the time of COVID-19; challenges and opportunities”. Both were very engaging and informative lectures to the wide symposium audience.
SPIRHR and SPHMMC plan to continue holding this annual symposium together with other relevant stakeholders. The symposium organizers express their gratitude for the contribution of all that make this years’ symposium a success.
The symposium was streamed live on YouTube and can be watched on demand. Click here to watch the first day of the symposium and click here to watch the second day of the symposium.